I'm Gonna Be
by justkillingtime
Summary: Joe installs a karaoke machine in the bar and after some convincing Alex joins Derek in singing a song to a couple of ladies. ONE SHOT


**AN: The song used in this is I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers. This might be a little out of character but I thought it might be a fun idea.**

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"Joe, where do you want me to set this up?" Walter called out as he carried into the bar a large box containing a set of speakers, two microphones, a Playstation, and a copy of Singstar.

"Over there in the corner maybe. I don't know set it up where you think it should go."

This was Walter's idea, the Playstation, the Singstar and the karaoke which would come along with it. It was there latest business idea, something to make the bar a bit more fun. Joe didn't really think it would work, he didn't think it was something his regulars would go along with but he wasn't too worried about that. The truth was they just wanted to buy a Playstation and needed a legitimate way to write it off as a business expense, what better way than a couple nights of karaoke, the sooner it flopped the sooner they could take it home and make it a permanent addition to their lounge room.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"Karaoke Joe, seriously? You're going to put karaoke in this bar?" Cristina said picking up one of the fliers Joe had just placed on the counter.

"Nope," Joe smiled at her. "It's already here." He pointed to the corner of the bar where Walter was sitting with the instruction manual trying to work out how to use the thing, standing next to him were two interns trying to help.

"Great," the sarcasm dripped off her voice.

"Here," Joe placed a shot glass in front of her and poured a shot of vodka. "On the house. It'll only be here a few weeks. Just long enough for it to look like we tried."

"I'm going to need more than one shot." She picked up glass and gulped down the liquid.

"You're onto the hard stuff already?"

She turned and saw Meredith sitting on the stool beside her.

"Yep, Joe's gone and put karaoke in the corner."

"Karaoke? Seriously?" Meredith asked looking at both Cristina and then Joe.

"Yep." Cristina said downing another shot just as the music started playing.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-

An hour had past since the music started. Alex and Izzie had arrived at the bar and now the four of them were trying to drown out the noise with alcohol.

"Dude sing a different song!" Alex yelled across the bar. For the last fifteen minutes Steve and some guy Cristina kept calling 4.3 had been trying to top score on "My Sharona".

"You can't make me!" Steve yelled back and they started playing the song again. From across the bar there was a collective groan and everyone reached for their drinks and took large gulps.

"Make them stop." The words came from Izzie's mouth in a half whine half plea. "Alex make them stop."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Alex smiled taking another long slow sip of his beer. He was still reasonably sober and was enjoying the display his friends were putting on at the table. "Why don't you get up there and sing something?"

"Me?" A look of shock and confusion spread across Izzie's face. "I don't sing." She slapped him gently on his shoulder and started laughing. "Why don't you sing? Sing me a song Alex."

"Um…how about no." He took another sip of his drink and the women seated around him started laughing.

_"My my my i yi woo"_

Steve's voice seemed to echo around the bar and Cristina banged her head against the table.

"Make him stop," She seemed to cry to no one then she started to stand up. "I think I'm going to hurl." She started staggering off towards the restrooms and after a moment Meredith and Izzie went after her.

Alex watched the women seated around him stumble off towards the restrooms and he started laughing to himself. Tonight had been strange, the karaoke was not something normal for Joe's and Steve's incessant singing and the repetitive beat of the song was driving everyone crazy but for some reason they hadn't left.

"Alex." He looked up and saw Derek seated in one of the empty seats. "Do you think you could help me with something?"

"What?" He looked skeptically back at him, he didn't want to agree to anything without knowing what it was first.

Derek reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, he opened it up and revealed a ring. Alex gulped there was no doubt what that ring was for.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I was going to give it to her tonight here. I wasn't expecting all of this though." He waved his hand towards the small stage and the singers. "I want you to get her over by the stage and I want you to get up there and start singing."

"What!" Alex bit down on his tongue and tried not to laugh. "Dude I don't sing."

"Yes you do. I've heard you in your room when you think no one else is home."

"What?" It was true he did sing when he was alone but that was when he was alone or when he thought he was alone at least. "Dude I'm not singing. And aren't you supposed to do proposals on your own?"

-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Alex stood on the stage microphone in hand. On the outside he appeared calm but on the inside he was shaking. He was still in somewhat disbelief that Derek had actually managed to convince him to get up on the stage, he didn't sing, not in front of people but the prospect of scrubbing in on every one of Derek's surgeries for the next month was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"Are you sure you really need me up here?" He asked one more time.

"Yes Karev, it's a two player game." The words came out of Derek's mouth as he nodded to Walter to hit the play button.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Meredith, Cristina and Izzie stepped out the restroom and into the back corridor of Joe's. From there they could hear the music playing out the front.

_Dom dom dom dom da dom dom dom dom_

"Wow it's a different song!" The words came from Izzie's mouth in an excited tone.

"So it is. I wonder who kicked Steve and the other guy off the stage?"

_Dom dom dom dom da dom dom dom dom_

The women walked out the corridor and into the main bar. All of their mouths dropped when they realized the two men now on the stage were Derek and Alex. A small gasp slipped from Izzie's mouth as Alex saw her and smiled. She watched him glance over at Derek and then step off the stage just as the lyrics started running across the TV screen.

_"When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you"_

Alex took both Meredith and Izzie's hands and began leading them towards the stage. Neither one of them said anything they were too shocked for words. He pulled out two chairs and sat each of them down.

_"When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you"_

Alex stepped back on the stage and picked the microphone up again. He glanced back over at Derek to make sure he was still there, that he was actually singing.

_"If I get drunk yes I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you"_

_"And if I haver yeah I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you"_

Derek looked straight at Meredith and he smiled, there was a confused look on her face but it was opening up to a huge smile.

_  
"But I would walk 500 miles  
And I would walk 500 more"_

Meredith watched Derek standing on the stage singing to her. She hadn't seen this side of him before, she'd heard of it but not seen it. She liked it but she wasn't sure what to make of it, what did this mean for them, she wasn't like that, she didn't sing.

_"Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles  
To fall down at your door"_

The course rolled by for the first time and Alex fixed his eyes on Izzie. If he just looked at her he could pretend he wasn't in a bar, that he wasn't singing in front of a room full of people, he was just singing to her.

_"When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you  
And when the money comes in for the work I'll do  
I'll pass almost every penny on to you"_

The smile spread wider across Izzie's face. She was trying hard not to laugh, she couldn't believe what Alex was doing. When she had told him earlier to get up and sing her a song she wasn't really serious, she didn't think he would actually do it, she wasn't expecting and it. It was so incredibly sweet though.

_"When I come home yeah I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you"_

_"And if I grow old well I know I'm gonna be  
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you"_

Derek slipped his hand into his pocket and wrapped it around the box inside. His heart was racing, the singing was giving him an adrenaline rush but it was the thought of what lay head that really had him scared. He'd been planning his proposal for weeks and he'd thought he had it all worked out. He was going to propose in Joe's he knew that much but he hadn't planned to sing. The singing was a spur of the moment thing a way to show Meredith something else about him. She'd been going on about it ever since she'd found out he used to play the guitar.

_"But I would walk 500 miles_

_And I would walk 500 more_

_Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles  
To fall down at your door"_

Meredith watched Derek's hand slip into his pocket, she couldn't see what was in there but she could see the shape of it. She brought a hand to her mouth and gasped.

_"da da da da! da da da da!"_

At that moment the song seemed to take off, Derek took his eyes off Meredith for a moment and turned to Alex. He looked like he was enjoying himself, and enjoying the song. Alex looked at him at that moment and smiled and then they sang the last of the instrumental in chorus.

_"da da da da! da da da da!_

_lika lika lika lika lika la, la, la  
da da da da! da da da da!  
da da da da! da da da da!  
lika lika lika lika lika la, la, la"_  
_  
_A loud cheer erupted from the crowd around the bar, everyone was watching now and they seemed to be enjoying the show. The course rolled by again and Alex reached out his hand for Izzie. He grabbed hold of it and pulled her onto the stage.

"Alex, no!" She cried out but she didn't pull away from him. She climbed up on the stage after him and lent against him as he wrapped an arm around her.

_"When I'm lonely, well I know I'm gonna be,  
I'm gonna be the man whose lonely without you."_

Alex was really singing to Izzie now, as far as he was concerned they were the only ones in the room.

_"And when I'm dreaming, well I know I'm gonna dream,  
I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you."_

Derek watched in horror as Alex pulled Izzie up on the stage with them. That wasn't part of their plan, they hadn't talked about that. They hadn't really talked about anything but he didn't want that, he didn't want to pull Meredith up on the stage with him, it wouldn't work the way he wanted if she was standing next to him. But if he didn't try that wouldn't look right either.

_"When I go out, well I know I'm gonna be,  
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you."_

Meredith watched Alex pull Izzie up on the stage and then watched in horror as Derek held out his hand for her. She shook her head frantically, it was one thing to be sung to in the middle of a bar, getting up on a stage was a totally other story.

_  
"and when I come home, yes I know I'm gonna be,  
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home with you,  
I'm gonna be the man whose comin' home with you."_

The beat to the song slowed down for just a moment and both men fixed their eyes on the women before them. They both looked happy there was a light coming out of them and then the song picked up again.

_"But I would walk 500 miles  
And I would walk 500 more"_

There was an energy running through Izzie she hadn't felt in a long time. With Alex's arm around her she felt like she could do anything and when he shoved the microphone in front of her face she didn't turn away from it, she started singing too.

_  
"Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles  
To fall down at your door"_

Laughter erupted trough out the bar. Alex and Izzie appeared to be stealing the show but Derek didn't mind. Meredith was still focused on him, her eyes were glued to him and that was all that mattered.

_"da da da da! da da da da!  
da da da da! da da da da!  
lika lika lika lika lika la, la, la_ "

Alex and Izzie began singing in chorus with one another, between each line fits of laugher slipped from both their mouths. It was great to watch and no one seemed to notice that Derek had stopped singing.

_"da da da da! da da da da!  
da da da da! da da da da!  
lika lika lika lika lika la, la, la_

_da da da da! da da da da!  
da da da da! da da da da!  
lika lika lika lika lika la, la, la_ "

The song began to be punctuated by fits of laughter. Derek glanced over at the two people sharing the stage with him and he shook his head, by now they seemed to be holding each other up. He couldn't help but smile at the sight then he turned back to Meredith. She was having her own problems containing her laughter.

_  
"da da da da! da da da da!  
da da da da! da da da da!  
lika lika lika lika lika la, la, la"_

The last of the song began to roll around and Derek knelt down in front of Meredith.

_  
"But I would walk 500 miles  
And I would walk 500 more"_

He was no longer singing, the sound of the lyrics was coming completely from Alex and Izzie. He reached down into his pocket and wrapped his hand around the ring box. Taking a deep breath he pulled the box out.

_  
"Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles  
To fall down at your do-o-or"_

Alex and Izzie finished the song and she threw her arms around him in a fit of laughter, she kissed him hard and in that moment they were oblivious to what was going on around them. The rest of the bar saw it though and a hush fell over the crowd.

"Meredith Grey," Derek started saying. "Will you marry me?"

Meredith looked back at him, shock written all over her face, she didn't know what to say, the obvious answer was yes but she was hesitant. She was only just getting used to living with Derek; the idea of marriage freaked her out. But she couldn't say no, saying no to a marriage proposal was an almost sure fire way to mess up a relationship. Instead she did the only thing she could do in that instance, she slipped down onto her knees and she kissed him. She kissed him long and hard in front of everyone, she showed him that she loved him but she didn't say yes, in that instant she couldn't say yes but she wouldn't say no.

"So where is my ring?" The question slipped off Izzie's tongue as she pulled away from Alex.

"Your ring? What makes you think you're getting a ring?" Alex replied before kissing her again. The question was rhetorical; he didn't want to hear an answer. "When I give you a ring, I'm not going to do in a room full of people." He gave her a wink and kissed her again. He had no intention of giving her a ring, not now, but in the future it wasn't out of the question. While he'd been singing he couldn't deny that thoughts of how he might one day propose hadn't crossed his mind.

"How about we get out of here?" Alex whispered when they came up for air. Izzie smiled at him, a soft nod and he began leading her off the stage. On their way out they turned to look back at the other couple. Meredith and Derek still hadn't stopped kissing.


End file.
